


The Time In-Between

by Uthizaar



Series: Silence & Memories [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: End of Season 2 AU, Lacrosse, M/M, Nice Jackson, No Dialogue, Secret Relationship, Sequel, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-23
Updated: 2015-06-25
Packaged: 2018-04-05 20:04:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4193139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Uthizaar/pseuds/Uthizaar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jackson has to leave, it's just a fact. But he'll come back, right? Stiles sure hopes so.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Leaving Time

Stiles stared moodily at the ground, the ball sitting in the mud as he leaned on his lacrosse stick. It wasn’t fair. Why did Jackson have to go to London? Why did he have to go at all? Stiles sighed heavily as the grey skies above him rumbled gently, heralding a distant storm. They didn’t often get rain, but Spring had been strange enough without wondering about the weather. He didn’t really want to think about what had happened, about the decisions he had almost made, preferring instead to focus on the aftermath. Not that was any better; the guy he was pretty sure he was in love with was leaving. 

 

So preoccupied was Stiles that he didn’t hear the soft squelch of boots on the soggy ground as Jackson snuck up behind him. They were both kitted out in full gear, so it didn’t hurt Stiles when his boyfriend barrelled into him and tackled him to the ground. Stiles let out a groan even as Jackson chuckled and climbed on top of him, dominantly straddling his chest and pushing Stiles’ arms back beside his head, stick lying forgotten by his side. Stiles let him, smile tugging at his lips even as Jackson grinned freely at him. They stayed like that for a moment, then Jackson leant down until their helmets touched. He exhaled deeply and Stiles let his fingers knit together behind Jackson's back, as the lacrosse star released his hands. 

 

Their emotions became clearer as Jackson stopped smiling, looking sadly at Stiles. They both knew what today was. In a few hours he’d be gone and Stiles would be sitting on this field all alone save for the thunder and drizzle. Not even the whispered promise of return could stop the tears pinpricking his eyes as he let Jackson stand up. But he knew, he knew; Jackson would return to him. If nothing else he always kept his promises.


	2. Never Forgotten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always listen to music when I write, but for this series there's one album I stick to. Audiomachine's 'Tree of Life,' is perfect for the emotional parts! 
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94VadpMYQgE&index=84&list=PL54CF4934483D6531 in case you want to listen.

People would hit on Jackson all the time; guys just as much as girls, but he always shrugged it off, even when the guys were hot or muscular or cute. Because he was with Stiles. Distance might separate them, but they were still together. And he was going to get back to him. After all, Jackson made a promise and this was one he was determined to keep, no matter what he would return to Stiles.

Stiles stared up at the sun, shielding his eyes in the morning glare. He did the same thing every day, had the same thought everyday: that's the same sun that's shining down on Jackson right now. Sure there might be an eight hour difference, but it's the same heat. And that made him feel a little more connected. Months may have passed since he saw his boyfriend, since their lips parted, since they hugged that last time, but this one morning ritual kept Stiles from letting the agony of being apart overwhelm him. Jackson would come back. He had to.

Jackson waited until the end of the school year to tell his parents, not to ask them, but to tell them: he was going back to the States, back to Beacon Hills, back to Stiles. That last part had been hard, but to his surprise they let him go, told him to go in fact. And not because of any harshness or rejection, but because they had seen how he different he had become over the last year, how he yearned to go back "home", how the only time he was himself (a content, smiling Jackson) was when he was skyping that boy from Beacon Hills; the Sheriff's kid with the strange name and goofy antics. The one that Jackson couldn't stop thinking about, the one Jackson couldn't stop talking about as he and his father fly back to California. The one Jackson couldn't stop hugging when he saw Stiles at the gate, waiting for him. Holding onto him so tight that it didn’t matter who was staring: it was just them there, just them together again.


	3. Home is Where He is

They’re standing on the lacrosse field again, just as they did a year ago, but this time joy replaces sorrow. This time it’s a much happier occasion as Stiles throws the ball towards Jackson, who catches it deftly with his lacrosse stick, before flicking it back. Stiles leaps upwards for it and misses completely, losing his balance as he does so, crashing back onto the dusty ground. Jackson wastes no time and dives on him; he loves doing this, being so close to his boyfriend and yet it still looked like playful jocks wrestling together- that probably meant something... But Stiles almost always stopped struggling and lay there, staring at his perfect lover, their heads close as Jackson breathed him in and smiled while Stiles caressed his warm skin with a finger or thumb, reaching under the fabric of his jersey.

 

It was time, Jackson knew it, could see the nerves in Stiles’ face when he asked him, but Jackson had enough confidence for them both. Enough to pull up outside the Sheriff’s house in that roaring, growling sports car of his and ring the doorbell. Stiles grinned at him shyly as the cop looked between them for a moment and then broke out smiling. With a strong squeeze on both of their shoulders he sent them off. Arriving at school was a little different, but Jackson’s quiet confidence soon spread to Stiles and before long he was laughing and dancing and goofing around as always. 

 

The small hours of the night found them back in the field, lying in each other’s arms, their suit jackets cast off and forming make-shift pillows on the dry grass. The stars were spread across the sky in the cloudless night and they were at peace. Their posture mirrored that of the photos taken earlier in the evening: Jackson staring stoically ahead, the edges of his lips forming into a grin as his hands rested, clasped, on Stiles’ waist. Stiles, of course, never kept still, and barely two seconds after the flash went he squirmed and Jackson let out a laugh, even as the photographer frowned at them. But they didn’t care, twirling away into the lights of the transformed gym hall, hand in hand.

 

Now though, now they were still, enjoying each other's presence in that special sort of silence. They knew what the future held, for them at least. The misery of the past year washed away by a single promise made on a starry night; the eternal promise. The promise that made Stiles grin as he slipped into peaceful rest, the one that let him mutter, finally, ‘I love you Jackson.’


End file.
